Overall Member Rating

Underwhelmed

We are a couple in our mid fifties who are fortunate to be able to cruise quite often and since 2 of our kids are attending university in Miami we try to combine a visit with them and a cruise with just us two. I happened upon what I thought was a great price on a 5 day on the Millenium stopping at Roatan and Cozumel for late January. We knew going in to this cruise that Celebrity was putting this ship in for an upgrading but except for the pathetic matress we had, the upcoming renovating plans were not to the detriment of any thing we could detect. The following will describe what we experienced on this cruise.

Embarkation: fast and painless, we were on the ship and at the lunch buffet in 20 minutes, we got to the ship at about 12 noon.

Cabin: Standard inside with enough room for our way too much stuff. The bed was really sad looking, saggy in the middle but when I pointed this out to the steward he said there were no more matresses available and put a board under it More
which made it hard as a rock. Why they even had a matress like that and why they try to stick a passenger with it does not reflect well on Celebrity. I know they were upgrading shortly but this bed should have been ditched a long time ago. Otherwise the decor was fine, nothing else was shabby or worn. The bathroom was decently proportioned and the shower was big enough to shave legs.
The hairdryer was terrible, no power, faint heat and noisy.

Cabin Service: The Cabin staff was friendly but there was a lack of attention to detail. If you needed something they would get it but some things should be anticipated like beach towels on a port day, removing dirty glasses, etc. Certainly not the service Celebrity is supposed to be known for, but not a big deal individually but when little things like that happen every day it gets a bit annoying.

Food Quality and Dining and Buffet service: I never thought I would say this about Celebrity but this was the worst food I have had in a very long time on a cruise. The breakfast buffet was just ok, the selections were not as numerous as on other recent cruises, the baked goods were always awful, dry and tasteless. The fruitflies in the buffet area were gross and numerous complaints did not eradicate the flies. Once again there seemed to be a lack of attention to detail in the cleanliness of the buffet area and the servers were nice but did not go out of their way unless requested to do so. The lunch buffet offerings were usually like cafeteria options, very pedestrian, low end and mundane, liver was offered on one day. The pizza, pasta and sushi was actually pretty good, the outside burger place was excellent. The only time we were at the dining room was for dinner. We had a table for two in late seating as per our request. Our waiter and busboy were nice enough but once again the level of service was way below what we have had on all of our recent cruises and certainly not as on Celebrity. For example my husband likes olive oil with his bread. There was a bottle of olive oil with the salad service and we had to wait till this was passed around thru our whole dining room section to get it back and then off it went round the area again. The waiters never remembered our preferences for anything, or our names. As for the selection and the quality of the food: I can honestly say that there was nothing I had that was excellent. Some of the food was mediocre, some was really bad. The waiter warned me off the steak, the shrimp that they had were below Red Lobster quality. Frogs leg lovers would be happy to know that they were feautured on two nights! For those of us who do not eat amphibians we had no great alternatives. Desserts were not worth the calories. Ironically the best food we have had on recent cruises was on Carnival and RCCL which are supposed to be much less known for their food than Celebrity.

Entertainment: When we were able to see a show which was difficult due to the dining time we had, they were usually well done. Though generally not fans of the broadway revue type shows on cruises the singers they featured were very talented. The cruise director was awol the whole time except when they had a stage show and she sang to open the show, she was kind of nerdy, actually, and unlike the cruise directors we have had on other cruises did not interact with any passengers. We participated in a Beatles trivia game and won but the entertainment staff member ran out of prizes and told us to look for him the next day.
Oh yeah I will not get off the ship in port to instead look for my key chain prize. How about he got our names and sent it to our cabin?

Ports. Roatan: Very Poor,and depressing but take a Taxi to West side by Bananarama Beach or Tabana and they are free to get on and very nice for a day trip. Be prepared for guards with guns and a beltfull of bullets every 100 yards of beach. A bit disconcerting, but if you're there you might as well be at the beach. Cozumel: From where the ship docks it is a quick cab ride to Club Paradiso where they say they charge for admission and chairs but we did not pay anybody and nobody asked although I saw some people approached by staff to pay. The place was very clean and has a nice new pool and the beach is very nice.

Disembarkation: Very quick but I am always amazed at the people who think they have to get off at the time their colored tag dictates. You can stay on until about at least 9:45 or later.

Overview: We always enjoy our cruises and try not to get hung up on the things that are not right and we did indeed enjoy this cruise in spite of the shortcomings. However, we expected Celebrity to offer a much better experience overall and as far as the food, it realy was surprisingly bad. This does not make me likely to cruise with Celebrity again any time soon. Less

Compare Prices on Celebrity Millennium Western Caribbean Cruises

Cabin review: 09 Inside Stateroom 9

Port and Shore Excursions

Cozumel is great for a beach day and we always go to Club Paradiso which has a clean pool and bar and very nice beach. It is a quick cab ride from where the ship is docked and sometimes we never get charged to get on and sometimes they collect a small admission fee and charge for the chairs.

Where the ship docks it is very laid back thing really there to see or do. Take a cab to Bananarama Beach on the west side, its free and very nice with all facilities. Taxi ride is scenic and takes about 20 minutes each way.